Economics viewpoint World leaders must wise up to threat of cyber-attacks or rogue fridges will be least of their worries Heather Stewart Global cooperation seems unlikely despite AI increasing the risk of digital fraud and the need to protect the financial system Follow Heather Stewart in My Guardian 146 Sun 18 Oct 2026 12.46 BST Listen to this article 6:17 R ogue French fridges were an unlikely talking point for the world’s leading economists, central bankers and finance chiefs meeting in a sultry Bangkok last week – helping to underline the spiralling cost of cyber-attacks. Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, seized on news that supermarket chains across France had to chuck out piles of spoiled food after hackers accessed their fridge controls and turned up the temperature to 50C. Speaking at the fund’s annual meetings in the Thai capital, she was keen to hammer home the importance of guarding against “bad actors” in a rapidly chang...